HuntressSaint Vitus
8pm, $10/$12
The lead single off straight-ahead heavy-metal group Huntress’ latest, Starbound Beast, is what frontwoman Jill Janus calls a love song, written by Motörhead’s resident snaggletooth Lemmy Kilmister, titled “I Want to Fuck You to Death.” Quaint, no? Tonight, the oft scantily clad Janus, a self-described witch, will cast a spell to make that a bit morsel a bit more palatable. With Battlecross and River of Nihil. — By Kory Grow

Tuesday, 7/23:

fun. + Tegan and SaraPier 26
Monday & Tuesday, 6pm, $42.50
With a military drumbeat and a story that’s equal parts Billy Joel and Paul Simon about getting “higher than the Empire State,” NYC indie-pop group fun. began one of the most infectious earworms of 2012. That anthem, “We Are Young,” went on to win a Grammy, go quintuple-platinum, and hit No. 1 in at least 12 countries. Since then, they’ve released two more hit singles, and their album Some Nights has attained the increasingly rare achievement of platinum status. Tonight and tomorrow, they return to their hometown for a pair of gigs on Pier 26, overlooking the Hudson River. Joining them are the equally indie-pop minded duo Tegan and Sara, whose latest album, Heartthrob, found the twin sisters diving into catchy synth backdrops. Wear dancing shoes. — By Kory Grow

Wednesday, 7/24:

New Order + Holy Ghost!Williamsburg Park
5:30pm, $50
After more than 20 years of soundtracking all-night dance parties, New Order finally come to Williamsburg, playing the neighborhood’s renovated waterfront for an evening show with local (DFA-signed) synth-pop duo Holy Ghost!. Formed by the members of post-Ian Curtis Joy Division, the band released some of the seminal albums of the ’80s and have recently reunited with all but one original member. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes: While their live shows once tended to be short and sweet, word is that they’re now playing full sets. — By Nick Murray

‘Red Hot + Fela Live!’Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
7:30pm, free
This promising live gathering precedes the release of Red Hot + Fela, the Red Hot AIDS relief organization’s second compilation devoted to the music of Fela Kuti, who died of AIDS-caused Kaposi’s sarcoma in 1997. Superhuman Happiness (which includes members of Antibalas, Tuneyards, and Iron + Wine) anchors the event, which includes appearances by afrobeat co-creator and drummer Tony Allen, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone, the Kronos Quartet, Congolese singer Baloji, and Sudanese singer Sinkane. — By Richard Gehr

Rustie + Cashmere CatOutput
10pm, $15-$25
Many have attempted the sound of Rustie’s 2011 Glass Swords, a dance music masterpiece on which the drums draw from hip-hop, the synths twinkle and glisten, and the bass grabs your body and refuses to let go. While his peer Hudson Mohawke has worked with Kanye West and pushed the sound forward, Rustie’s BBC Essential Mix was one of the year’s essential records, and his recent “Triadzz”/”Slasher” single is equal compelling. Tonight, he plays Output with Cashmere Cat, the Norwegian upstart who has been nodding heads with his bass-heavy reworkings of popular tunes by artists like 2 Chainz and Jeremih. — By Nick Murray

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Don't cry for her, New York City - Patti Lupone plays 54 Below for the second half of the week

Thursday, 7/25:

Imagine DragonsNikon at Jones Beach Theater
7:30pm, $39.50-$49.50
Imagine Dragons hail from a little old dusty, craggy town in Utah, so they know how to take the bleached bones of indie rock, electronica, and pop and transform it into something fit to soundtrack desert nights. Their single “Radioactive” is one of the highest charting songs in the country right now, so even if your hipster Brooklyn friends give you a blank look when you mention its name, most of the country has already been nodding their head to the slow-tempo beats of their 2013 release Night Visions. Helmed by Grammy darling producer Alex Da Kid, the quartet are well on their way to arena fame. — By Caitlin White

Fred Hersch Trio w/ Joe LovanoVillage Vanguard
Tuesday through Friday, 8pm & 10:30pm daily, $30
Beautiful pairing. The pianist’s working band is refreshingly limber, allowing for the kind of instantaneous whimsy that keeps the music perpetually crackling. Balance that with Hersch’s natural romanticism and you’ve got a group that can gives lyricism its due while stretching in all sorts of ways. Hmm…doesn’t that sound like the M.O. of saxophonist Lovano, a man who’s found several ways to make a blustery squall wear its heart on its sleeve? Get those tickets early. — By Jim Macnie

Friday, 7/26:

Patti Lupone54 Below
Wednesday, 7pm; Thursday, 7pm & 9:30pm; Friday, 8:30pm, $85-$95
LuPone is calling her latest show “Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda…(Played That Part),” and you better believe that if she didn’t, it wasn’t for lack of trying. So here she’s making up for lost opportunities with, among others, something or another from “Funny Girl.” — By David Finkle

Sinéad O’ConnorAlice Tully Hall
8pm, $50-$120
Irish anti-Pope, pro-pop musician Sinéad O’Connor is more than just controversy, a symbolically shaved head, and one amazing Prince cover–she’s, at the very least, about nine emotionally raw and melodically compelling albums more. Her bluesy, harrowing voice carries songs over waves of somber piano chords or and acoustic strums. Whether you’re turned off by her lack of a censor and the largely public deterioration of her psyche, there’s no denying that her songs can command a room. — By Sarah Madges

Trampled by Turtles + The Devil Makes Three + Brown BirdProspect Park Bandshell
7pm, free
Bluegrass is alive and well in 2013, and one of the primary purveyors of the classic genre is Minnesota’s Trampled By Turtles. Originally started as a side project, the group has grown to become one of the only “bluegrass” acts that the mainstream even acknowledges. Frontman Dave Simonett’s country-warmed voice delivers rebellious, whirling folk that fiddled and fought its way into existence, so expect plenty of love-lost stories and fierce fiddle solos that seem almost impossible in their speed. — By Caitlin White